Judging from the recent award shows in Hollywood, red carpet style is finally evolving thanks to risk-takers like Emma Stone. At the SAG awards she wore Dior’s chic take on the tuxedo. A few weeks earlier at the Golden Globes she showed up in a Lanvin jumpsuit complete with a jeweled bustier. So who will really take the plunge at the Oscars and wear Dior’s haute couture catsuit? Call Cher.

I’m always looking for the perfect summer shoe (even in the depths of winter). It’s hard to find an easy slip on shoe that is also super comfortable. Shoe experts swear by these Repetto ballet flats–they fit like a glove and have a tiny little heel, so the foot is not totally flat. Brigitte Bardot wore them in red. Catherine Deneuve is a fan, too. Can’t get better endorsements than that, n’est-ce pas?

Couldn’t help but notice all the press on the latest Gucci menswear show in Milan over the weekend. Apparently creative director Frida Giannini had been abruptly dismissed a week or so ago, and the head of accessory design stepped in with a whole new collection. And a new aesthetic. It’s androgynous–chiffon shirts tied at the neck with romantic bows–and it’s very different from the retro-sleek style Giannini embraced for the decade she designed for Gucci. Some said the white blouse and necktie look and the bleue, blanc, rouge color palette were a tribute to French cultural figures in light of the recent attacks in Paris. Certainly the berets, silk poet’s blouses, and fur-lined capes alluded to a kind of bohemian, Gallic cool. Overall, I like Gucci’s new direction. It’s definitely quirky, but it feels more in tune with what’s happening on other runways and more responsive to larger cultural themes.

It took awhile for me to finally succumb to the Birkenstock trend last summer (I bought two pairs). Now Marc Jacobs is selling velvet-lined Dr. Scholls. What is it with the current fashion craze for ugly orthopedic shoes? Maybe designers are finally getting smart and targeting consumers in the demographic that actually spends money: Boomers (with failing knees and unhappy feet).

While browsing through photos of the pre-fall collections the other day, several looks from Michael Kors jumped out at me. They looked so familiar and for a moment I couldn’t place them. Then it me: something in the slouchy chic of Kors’ classic pea coat and bright red tuxedo pants or the simplicity of a black suit instantly recalled the crisp, clean, all-American style of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. But more than just the clothes themselves, it was the attitude in these images that reminded me of the late style icon. The writer Dani Shapiro wrote a blog post recently about this kind of attitude as it relates to writing and creativity and, well, life. Shapiro quoted Buddhist thought when she identified this attitude as the effortless effort, this idea of serendipity or risk or an openness to life’s possibilities. It’s a definition you could apply to style too, particularly this brand of seemingly effortless style.

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I first met Liya Kebede back in 2000 when she was starting out in Paris, modeling for Tom Ford at Gucci and Saint Laurent. Liya always impressed me with her intelligence and poise. At the time she was balancing a new family and a demanding career, all with incredible ease and grace. Read more…